The Competition Commission of India has asked the government to amend existing rules to allow more competition in maintenance of highways and airports under the public-private-partnership model.
"Several existing laws restrict or undermine competition. A review of such policies should be undertaken by the government to remove their competition-restricting effect (on the road and airport sectors)," CCI Director General Amitabh Kumar said.
He said currently, only one private player is given exclusive rights to maintain highways for a long period to enable them recover expenses in executing the project.
Kumar added that some parameters, like threshold level of traffic, should be brought in beyond which other players could also be allowed to manage these highways.
He said once the traffic goes up the revenue collection would be higher and the company can recover cost at a faster pace than estimated.
"The government should thus set some threshold after which competition is allowed to flourish," he added.
Presently, the government revises the toll charges for these highways, when required. Such companies must also be asked to fulfill the promises made in the contract, which would help customers get better services, he said.
Similarly, the current norms of not permitting the setting up of airports within a certain distance of the existing one should be reviewed, as these conditions prove dearer for consumers.
In New York and London, he said, there are more than two airports and the United States and the United Kingdom governments are also contemplating to grant the ownership of these airports to different players for increasing competition, he pointed.
Kumar said more competition should be allowed in the market so that consumers benefit from it.
"More competition and implementation of competition policy would also lead to better corporate governance by the corporate houses and help them in better compliance," he said.